Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Progress on Carpenter Star

I have been puttering away at this quilt for the last 7 days, 2-3 hours a day. More customer quilts have come in this week, making me stress over how slow the progress is. At this point, I have to just stop fixating on the minute details and small fillers, and get the silly thing stabilized enough that it can come off the frame in 1 week or less. That should be doable since I am nearly sitting on the middle right now.
I had fun with the tan filler (above), although this is the last quilt I will make where I mix a solid fabric with other prints. The weaves are different and I am not thrilled how the dense quilting looks on the tan. It will be just fine when done. This is just a case of "ole picky me". The butterflies, which were nearly an afterthought on the quilt, are quickly becoming my favorite part!

Each of the diamonds of the wheel are densely quilted with different patterns. My hope is that it will appear as bands of texture going around the carmenter star when it is done. I'm using a wool batt over 80/20 so this (with all the piecing seams) is a thick quilt. Will be super heavy if mailed anywhere! So far, threads are Bottomline in bobbin and Invisifil on the top. Because the fabrics have so much pattern, it is hard to see the stitching. I so hope that the texture and time-consuming patterning does in fact show in the end. This seems to be a constant worry. What else am I to do, though, unless I want a bold or thick contrasting color thread?? Still going on faith at this point that my plans will work out.


I haven't settled on what will go in the tan (above the yellow applique) below, but it's stable for the time being. I do like the filled radial stripes, and I know that they will have a great look.
Here's the long awaited center (...long awaited for me, anyways, because it marks where the first half ends and the next half starts!). With a light held at angle, the quilting is visible. I have feathered along the outline of a star, and then done 1/8" radial lines to help mash down the fabric to enhance the feathers. The thread is a sage green, and it unfortunately matches way too well, almost to the point of disappearing... It is nice to be freehand quilting, rather than using the templates (which can be rather slow).




But, again, I ask, what should I have done differently? I'm not about to quilt in pink just to see it!


The grand reveal on this quilt should be interesting. I'm going half-blind trying to see the stitching for the printed fabric :-)










7 comments:

Angie in SoCal said...

Oh my goodness - that is beautiful!

MariƩ du Toit said...

This is breathtakingly beautifull! I have goosebumps!

Betsy said...

This quilt is stunning. I really love the quilting and how the tan color makes it pop out. Just stunning!

Joyce said...

ABSOLUTELY GORGEOUS!!!

Joyce said...

ABSOLUTELY GORGEOUS!!!

Desley said...

It is looking really special. All the concerns you are expressing are normal for the stage you are at with this quilt, and the amount of time and effort you are putting into it. You just have to keep at it and hope all the decisions you are making will turn out right in the end. Looking at the pictures, it looks great, especially the butterflies :)

Mavis said...

Your quilting and the quilt are stunning! Breathtakingly beautiful!